MTV to spend 500 million USD on games

Music and pop culture TV network MTV has announced ambitious plans to spend over 500 million USD on games over the next two years.

MTV boss Judy McGrath revealed that games would become an integral part of the network's growth, with games involved from the very start of every new idea the company dreams-up. "As we take our brands narrow and deep to serve our targeted, niche audiences, we're putting well over USD 500 million behind building our games business across all of the brands in our portfolio," McGrath explained.

MTV parent firm Viacom are already heavily involved in gaming, having purchased Atom Entertainment and Harmonix in recent years. Viacom chief Sumner Redstone is also a major player in publisher Midway.

MTV reckon 47% of their viewers are gamers, hence their desire to play a key role in the industry. As owners of Harmonix, MTV are banking heavily on the success of Rock Band, which is due out this winter.